Bill
A 4653
The bill requires the AG to create a crowd management training program and establish resource-sharing protocols so local police can obtain immediate state support during large gath
Status & key dates
- Introduced: June 25, 2024
- Passed Assembly: February 27, 2025 (75-0-0)
- Reported with amendments by Senate Budget & Appropriations Committee: March 17, 2025
- Current recorded status: Referred to Environmental Conservation (per bill header)
- Companion: S3506
Purpose
- Require the New Jersey Attorney General (AG) to establish a crowd management and crowd control training program and maintain protocols to make certain state resources available to local law enforcement when incidents involving large gatherings or flash mobs exceed local capacity.
Definitions (thresholds in the bill)
- Flash mob / pop-up party: a gathering of 50 or more persons, typically organized through social media or other electronic communication, that occurs without advance notice to local government and impacts public safety.
- Large-scale gathering: any public or private gathering with more than 500 attendees.
Key provisions
- Training program: The AG, in consultation with the Superintendent of State Police, NJ Office of Emergency Management, and NJ State Association of Chiefs of Police, must establish a program for any municipal/local police department located in a municipality that, within the preceding 12 months, (a) hosted two or more large-scale gatherings or (b) experienced a flash mob/pop-up party. Required training topics include:
- General crowd management and crowd control techniques (including techniques applicable to juveniles)
- Strategies for responding to social media activity related to gatherings
- Best practices for coordination and resource sharing with county and neighboring agencies
- Best practices to protect attendees, the public, and law enforcement
- Resource protocols: The AG must establish and maintain protocols through which trained departments may request assistance beyond their resources. Resources to be made available may include:
- Access to social media monitoring tools and intelligence via the Division of State Police
- Mobile command units for large gatherings (and, if practicable, for flash mobs)
- Personnel support from county, neighboring municipal agencies, and the Division of State Police, under established protocols, MOUs, or mutual-aid plans
- Immediate support: Protocols must include an exigent process allowing municipal police to request immediate assistance during a flash mob.
- Rulemaking: AG may promulgate rules under the Administrative Procedure Act to implement the law.
- Effective date: Immediately upon enactment.
Who is affected
- Primary: municipal and local police departments/forces that meet the incident/gathering criteria.
- Secondary: Division of State Police, county law enforcement, NJ Office of Emergency Management, NJ State Association of Chiefs of Police, and the Department of Law and Public Safety (AG’s office) which will administer the program and protocols. The public could be affected through changes in crowd-safety practices and law enforcement coordination.
Fiscal and operational impact
- Office of Legislative Services (OLS) estimates an indeterminate annual increase in state expenditures to the Department of Law and Public Safety. Costs are uncertain because frequency of flash mobs and resource needs (mobile units, monitoring tools, personnel deployments) are not quantified. OLS notes likely one-time costs to develop training and protocols and ongoing costs to update training and provide requested resources; however, some workload may be absorbed within existing budgets.
Committee changes (summary)
- Committee amendments clarified inclusion of crowd control techniques, expanded coordination to county agencies, required maintenance of protocols, and specified a process for immediate support during a flash mob.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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